Drapery hook

ABSTRACT

A drapery hook having a rearwardly and downwardly facing, upper hook means engageable with a drapery support and a forwardly and upwardly facing, lower hook means connected to the upper hook means and engageable with a drape. A guide means connected to the hook means is slidable along a forwardly facing portion of the drapery support and includes transversely spaced guide tabs projecting transversely outwardly in opposite directions and terminating in transversely outwardly and forwardly projecting ends. The guide means may also include a rearwardly extending retainer tab engageable with a downwardly facing portion of the drapery support to prevent disengagement of the upper hook means therefrom.

United States Patent Hager et al.

[451 Jan. 25, 1972 [22] Filed:

[54] DRAPERY HOOK [72] Inventors: Mark H. Hager, Los Angeles; Clarence R.

Adams, Glendale, both of Calif.

[73] Assignee:

Related U.S. Application Data [63] Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 713,606, Mar, 18,

1968, Pat. No. 3,502,132. I

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Graber ..16/87.4 Graber ..l6/87.2 X

Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay Assistant ExaminerPeter A. Aschenbrenner Attorney-Harris, Kiech, Russell & Kern [57] ABSTRACT A drapery hook having a rearwardly and downwardly facing, upper hook means engageable with a drapery support and a forwardly and upwardly facing, lower hook means connected to the upper'hook means and engageable with a drape. A guide means connected to the hook means is slidable along a forwardly facing portion of the drapery support and includes transversely spaced guide tabs projecting transversely outwardly in opposite directions and terminating in transversely outwardly and forwardly projecting ends. The guide means may also include a rearwardly extending retainer tab engageable with a downwardly facing portion of the drapery support to prevent disengagement of the upper hook means therefrom.

6 Claims, 10 Drawing Figures PATENTED JANZS 1972 SHEET 1 OF 2 s. s 5 23 N nflr W zanw E C. em me 5% DRAPERY HOOK CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION Our present application is a continuation-in-part of our copending application Ser. No. 713,606, filed Mar. 18, 1968, now US. Pat. No. 3,502,132, issued Mar. 24, 1970.

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION The present invention relates in general to a drapery hook and, more particularly, to a drapery hook of the type which includes a rearwardly and downwardly facing, upper hook means engageable with and slidable along a drapery support, and which includes a forwardly and upwardly facing, lower hook means connected to the upper hook means and engageable with a drape.

The drapery hook of the invention is of particular utility when used with an extensible and contractable drapery support of the character disclosed and claimed in our aforementioned patent, such a drapery support comprising a plurality of sections which are relatively movable in the direction of extension and contraction of the support. The various sections of the drapery support respectively include upwardly extending, hook-supporting elements which overlap in the direction of extension and contraction of the support in both the extended and contracted positions thereof, the hook-supporting elements having parallel, closely spaced, upper, hook-supporting edges located adjacent the front side of the support. The drapery hook of the present invention is particularly suited for use with overlapping hook-supporting elements of this nature and will be considered in connection therewith for convenience, although it will be understood that the invention is susceptible of other applications.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF INVENTION Primary objects of the invention are to provide a drapery hook which will slide freely along the drapery support without binding, which has a minimum tendency to tip laterally as it slides, which has a minimum tendency to tip downwardly and forwardly so as to minimize any concave effect at the top of the drape, which will not readily become disengaged from the drapery support, and the like.

An important object is to provide each drapery hook with a guide means having a smooth rear surface slidably engageable with a forwardly facing portion of the drapery support to minimize downward and forward tipping of the hook, thereby.

minimizing the aforementioned concave effect at the top of the drape. Specifically, an object in this connection is to provide a guide means having a smooth rear surface of sufficient extent to engage any of the front surfaces of the overlapping hook-supporting elements of the drapery support of our aforementioned patent.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a guide means which includes transversely spaced guide tabs projecting transversely outwardly in opposite directions and terminating in transversely outwardly and forwardly projecting ends. With the overlapping hook-supporting elements mentioned, the transversely outwardly and forwardly projecting ends of the guide tabs enable each drapery hook to slide smoothly from one overlapping hook'supporting element to the next without binding, which is an important feature.

Still another important object of the invention is to provide a guide means having pairs of vertically spaced guide tabs on opposite sides thereof, the pairs of guide tabs on opposite sides of the guide means being vertically staggered so that they are capable of interleaving with their counterparts on adjacent identical drapery hooks when a drape supported by the drapery hooks is retracted. This arrangement of vertically staggered pairs of oppositely extending guide tabs insures sliding guidance free of binding while still permitting close spacing of the drapery hooks when the drape is retracted, which is an important feature.

Yet another important object of the invention is to provide a slidable drapery hook of the foregoing nature wherein the upper hook means includes two transversely spaced hook portions engageable with the drapery support at points spaced apart longitudinally thereof. With this construction, maximum support against lateral tipping of the drapery hook is provided, which is an important feature since it minimizes any tendency of the drapery hook to bind as it slides along the drapery support.

Still another object of importance is to provide the guide means with a rearwardly extending retainer tab disposed under and engageable with a downwardly facing portion of the drapery support, particularly when the drape is retracted, to prevent disengagement of the upper hook means from the drapery support.

The foregoing objects, advantages, features and results of the present invention, together with various other objects, advantages, features and results thereof which will be apparent to those skilled in the drapery art in the light of this disclosure, may be achieved with the exemplary embodiments of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in detail hereinafter;

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view on a reduced scale of a window draped with a pair of drapes respectively hung with drapery hooks of the invention from concealed, extensible and contractable, drapery supports of the character disclosed and claimed in our aforementioned patent, the drapes being shown in retracted positions;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are semidiagrammatic front elevational views of a drapery support carrying drapery hooks of the invention, the drapery support being shown in its contracted position in FIG. 2, to retract the drape hung therefrom, and in its extended position in FIG. 3, to extend thedrape;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, transverse sectional view of the drapery support taken as indicated by the arrowed line 4-4 of FIG. 2, and illustrating one embodiment of a drapery hook of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the drapery hook shown in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a view similar to FIG. 4, but showing another drapery hook embodiment of the invention on another drapery support;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the drapery hook shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 6, but showing still another, and presently preferred, embodiment of the drapery hook of the invention;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary front elevational view, taken from the left as viewed in FIG. 8, showing three of the drapery hooks of FIG. 8 in'interleaved positions corresponding to the retracted position of a drape supported thereby; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the drapery hook embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 and 9.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS FIGS. 1 TO 5 tally extensible and contractable drapery supporting structure,

not shown, which is similar to the drapery supporting structure 30, except that it is of the opposite hand. Consequently, only the drapery supporting structure 30 will 'be considered, in

detail herein. Preferably, the adjacent ends of the two structures are relatively offset slightly so that the drapes 24 and 26 will overlap.

The drapery supporting structure 30, and its counterpart from which the drape 26 is hung, are so constructed, and the drapes 24 and 26 are so hung therefrom, that the two supporting structures are completely concealed by the respective drapes, irrespective of whether the drapes are fully extended to conceal the window 22, or are partly or completely retracted to expose part or all of the window. As will be evident from FIG. 1, wherein the drapes 24 and 26 are shown in retracted positions, the drapery-supporting structure 30 and its counterpart are completely invisible.

The principal component of the drapery-supporting structure 30 is a horizontally extensible and contractable drapery support 32 from which the drape 24 is hung in such a manner that the drape is extended and retracted as the drapery support is extended and contracted. A mounting means 34 connected to the inner end of the drapery support 32 mounts the drapery support on the wall in cantilever fashion at the top of the area to be draped by the drape 24. It will be understood that, if desired, the mounting means 34 may mount the drapery support 32 in cantilever fashion from the ceiling, not shown, if the drape 24 extends from floor to ceiling.

The drapery support 32 comprises a series of slidably or telescopically connected sections. in the particular construction illustrated, there are three such sections, viz, an innermost section 36 having its inner end connected to the mounting means 34 in any suitable manner, an intermediate section 38 slidable relative to the innermost section, and an outermost section 40 slidable relative to the intermediate section.

The three sections 36, 38 and 40 may be of any suitable construction and may be slidably interconnected in any suitable manner. Also, the sections 36, 38 and 40 may be displaced longitudinally relative to each other, to extend and contract the drapery support 32, in any desired manner. Suitable structures and/or mechanisms for the foregoing are disclosed in our aforementioned patent and will not be considered further herein.

The innermost, intermediate and outermost telescopically interconnected sections 36, 38 and 40 of the drapery support 32 respectively include upwardly extending innermost, intermediate and outermost hook-supporting elements 76, 78 and 80, FIGS. 3 and 4, which overlap in the direction of extension and contraction of the drapery support in both the extended and contracted positions thereof. As best shown in FIG. 4 the hook-supporting elements 76, 78 and 80 respectively have parallel, closely spaced, upper, hook-supporting edges 86, 88 and 90 located at the front side of the drapery support 32 and close to the front vertical plane thereof.

The hook-supporting edges 86, 88 and 90 support slidable drapery books 92 which will be described in more detail hereinafter. Each of the slidable drapery hooks 92 engages one or more of the hook-supporting edges 86, 88 and 90, depending on its position longitudinally of the drapery support 32, and depending on whether the drapery support is extended or contracted. This will be clear from FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings in particular.

To permit the slidable drapery hooks 92 to slide freely from one of the hook-supporting edges 86, 88 and 90 to another, the outer end of the innermost hook-supporting edge 86, the inner and outer ends of the intermediate hook-supporting edge, and the inner end of the outermost hook-supporting edge 90 are all rounded, as best shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings. These rounded ends prevent those of the slidable drapery hooks 92 which must slide from one of the hook-supporting edges 86, 88 and 90 to another from hanging up as they effect the transfer.

As best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, each slidable drapery hook 92 includes a rearwardly and downwardly facing, upper hook means or portion 102 hooked over one or more of the hooksupporting edges 86, 88 and 90, depending on its position longitudinally of the drapery support 32, and depending on whether the drapery support is extended or contracted. EAch hook 92 also includes a forwardly and upwardly facing, lower hook means or portion 104 capable of hooked engagement with the drape 24 in the usual manner. Although shown open, the hook portion 104 may be closed in the conventional manner and as shown in FIG. 10. The upper and lower hook portions 102 and 104 are interconnected by a shank 106 which carries a transversely extending guide or guide means 108 having a smooth rear surface and having transversely spaced, transversely aligned, guide tabs 110 projecting transversely outwardly therefrom and terminating in transversely outwardly and forwardly projecting ends 112. The rear surfaces of the guides 108 of the various slidable drapery hooks 92 slidably'engage front surfaces of the corresponding hooksupporting elements 76, 78 and 80.

This slidable engagement of the drapery-hook guides 108 with the front surfaces of the hook-supporting elements 76, 78 and minimizes downward and forward tipping of the slidable drapery hooks to substantially prevent any downwardly and forwardly facing concavity along the top edge of the drape 24, which is an important feature. It will be noted that the front surface of the outermost hook-supporting element 80 maintains the slidable drapery hooks 92 in engagement therewith absolutely upright. The planes of the front surfaces of the other hook-supporting elements are located as close as possible to the plane of the front surface of the element 80 so that tipping of any of the slidable drapery hooks 92 in engagement with the hook-supporting element 76 only, or the hooksupporting elements 76 and 78, is minimized to minimize any I concave effect at the top edge of the drape 24.

The outwardly and forwardly projecting ends 112 of the drapery-hook guide tabs facilitate movement of the guides from one of the hook-supporting elements 76, 78 and 80 to prevent the guides from catching on the inner ends of the intermediate and outermost hook-supporting elements 78 and 80.

To prevent inadvertent disengagement of the slidable drapery hooks 92 from the hook-supporting elements, 76, 78 and 80, the guides 108 are provided at their lower edges with rearwardly extending retainer tabs 122 which are engageable with one of a series of downwardly facing shoulders 126, 128 and 130 on the respective hook-supporting elements 76, 78 and 80. As will be apparent from FIG. 4 of the drawings, the tabs 122 and the shoulders 126, 128 and 130 cooperate to virtually prevent inadvertent dislodgment of the slidable drapery hooks 92 from the hook-supporting elements 76, 78 and 80.

In addition to the slidable drapery hooks 92, the drapery supporting structure 30 includes fixed hooks 132 and 134 respectively located at the inner and outer ends of the innermost and outermost sections 36 and 40 of the drapery support 32, at the same level as the slidable drapery hooks. 1n the particular construction illustrated, there is at least one inner fixed hook 132 inserted into one of a series of holes in an upwardly extending tab on the mounting means 34, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings. There is also at least one outer fixed hook 134 inserted into one of a series of holes in a tab at the outer end of the outermost hook-supporting element 80.

As 'will be apparent, the inner and outer edges of the drape 24 are hung from the respective inner and outer fixed hooks 132 and 134. The inner fixed hook or hooks 132 remain stationary, relative to the wall 20, as the drape 24 is extended and retracted, thereby maintaining the inner edge of the drape stationary relative to the wall. The outer fixed hook or hooks 134 move back and forth across the draped area as the drapery support 32 is extended and contracted, whereby the drape 24 is correspondingly extended and retracted. As will be apparent, as the drape 24 is extended and retracted in this fashion by extension and contraction of the drapery support 32, the slidable drapery hooks 92 slide back and forth along the hook-supporting edges 86, 88 and/or 90 as required. in other words, the outer fixed hook or hooks 134 move the outer edge of the drape 24 back and forth across the draped area, and the slidable drapery books 92 merely follow along.

FIGS. 6 and 7 Illustrated in these figures of the drawing is a drapery support 132 which is quite similar to the drapery support 32 so that it does not need to be described in detail. The main difference between the drapery support 132 and the drapery support 32 is that the former includes four relatively slidable sections 134, 136, 138 and 140 instead of three. The sections 134, 136, 138 and 140 respectively include hook-supporting elements 174, 176, 178 and 180 respectively having upper, hook-supporting edges 184, 186, 188 and 190.

Slidable along the hook-supporting edges 184, 186, 188 and 190 are drapery hooks 192 which are similar to the hooks 92. More particularly, each drapery hook 192 comprises a rearwardly and downwardly facing, upper hook means or portion 202 engageable with the hook-supporting edges 184, 186, 188 and 190. The drapery hook 192 also includes a forwardly and upwardly facing, lower hook means or portion 204 engageable with a drape. A shank 206 interconnects the two hook portions, and carries a guide or guide means 208 similar to the guide 108. The guide 208 has a considerably larger vertical extent then the guide 108 in order to enable it to engage the front surface of any of the hook-supporting elements 174, 176, 178 and 180, it being clear from FIG. 6 that all of these front surfaces have different vertical extents. The vertical extent of the guide 208 is sufiicient to enable it to seat against the front surface of any of the hook-supporting elements 174, 176, 178 and 180.

In all other respects, the guide 208 is virtually identical to the guide 108, and includes transversely aligned, transversely spaced guide tabs 210 projecting transversely outwardly therefrom and terminating in transversely outwardly and forwardly projecting ends 212. The guide 208 is also provided with a retainer tab 222 which is adapted to project rearwardly into a forwardly facing channel 224 in the outermost drapery support section 140.

When the drapery support 132 is contracted to retract a drape carried thereby, the retainer tabs 222 of all of the drapery hooks 192 project rearwardly into the channel 224 to prevent any possibility of disengagement of the drapery hooks from the drapery support. This is the most critical condition since the drapery hooks are displaced into close proximity under such conditions and any tendency for them to become unhooked is at a maximum. When the drapery support 132 is extended to extend the drape, the drapery hooks 192 are more widely spaced and are virtually unlikely to become unhooked accidentally even though the retainer tabs 222 of all the drapery hooks 192 no longer extend into the channel 224.

FIGS. 8 to 10 These figures of the drawings illustrate presently preferred slidable drapery hooks 292 of the invention in use with the same drapery support 132 as is illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 7.

Each drapery hook 292 includes a rearwardly and downwardly facing, upper hook means 302 engageable with the hook-supporting edges 184, 186, 188 and 190. Each upper hook means 302 includes two laterally spaced hook portions 303 engageable with one or more of the hook-supporting edges 184, 186, 188 and 190 at two points spaced apart longitudinally of such edge. This provides each drapery hook 292 with increased stability against transverse tipping, which is an important feature.

Each drapery hook 292 also includes a lower hook means or portion 304 engageable with a drape in substantially the same manner as the lower hook portions 104 and 204. The lower hook portion 304 is provided with a shank 306 suitably secured to the upper hook means 302 and to a guide or guide means 308 forming part of the drapery hook 292. In the particular construction illustrated, the upper hook means 302 and the guide 308 are molded from plastic, and the lower hook portion 304 and its shank 306 are formed of metal. The upper end of the shank 306 extends rearwardly into a tubular receptacle 310 formed integrally with the upper hook means 302. A rearwardly bent intermediate portion 312 of the shank 306 fits into a complementary notch 314 and opening 316 in the guide 308, while a part of the lower hook portion 304 fits into a notch 318 in the guide 308. With this construction, the lower hook portion 304 is positively secured to the upper hook means 302 and the guide 308.

The guide 308 of each drapery hook 292 has a vertical extent sufficient to permit its substantially smooth rear surface to engage the front surface of any of the hook-supporting elements 174, 176, 178 and 180 to minimize downward and forward tipping of the drapery hook, and thus any concave effect at the top of a drape carried thereby. The guide 308 terminates at its lower end in a downwardly and forwardly projecting tab 320.

The guide 308 of each drapery hook 292 is provided on its left side, as viewed in the drawings, with vertically spaced, transversely outwardly projecting, upper and lower guide tabs 322 and 324. Similarly, each guide 308 is provided on its right side with vertically spaced, transversely outwardly projecting, guide tabs 326 and 328. These guide tabs all terminate in transversely outwardly and forwardly projecting ends.

The guide tabs 322, 324, 326 and 328 operate in substantially the same manner as the previously described guide tabs and 210 as the drapery hooks 292 slide along the drapery support 132. An important feature of the guide tabs 322, 324, 326 and 328 is that the tabs 322 and 324 are vertically staggered relative to the tabs 326 and 328, the relationship being such that the tab 322 is opposite the space between the tabs 326 and 328, and the tab 324 is below the tab 328.

With this construction, when a drape carried by the lower hook portions 304 of a plurality of the drapery hooks 292 is completely retracted, the various guide tabs 322, 324, 326 and 328 are all interleaved, as shown in FIG. 9. More particularly, the guide tabs 322 are inserted between and interleaved with the guide tabs 326 and 328 of the adjacent hooks, and the guide tabs 324 are located below and interleaved with the guide tabs 328 of the adjacent books. This insures displacement of the drapery hooks 292 into extremely close proximity to each other to permit maximum retraction of a drape carried thereby, which is an important feature of the invention.

If desired, the guide 308 of each drapery hook 292 may be provided thereon with a retainer tab 332 insertable into the channel 224 in the outermost drapery support section 140. The retainer tab 332 serves the same function as the retainer tabs 222 of the drapery hooks 192.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed herein for purposes of illustration, it will be understood that various changes, modifications and substitutions may be incorporated in such embodiments without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined by the claims which follow:

We claim as our invention:

1. In a drapery hook, the combination of:

a. a rearwardly and downwardly facing, upper hook means engageable with a drapery support;

b. a forwardly and upwardly facing, lower hook means connected to said upper hook means and engageable with a drape;

c. guide means connected to said hook means;

d. said guide means having a substantially smooth rear surface and including transversely spaced guide tabs projecting transversely outwardly in opposite directions; and

e. said guide tabs including transversely outwardly and forwardly projecting portions.

2. A drapery hook as defined in claim 1 including a pair of said guide tabs on either side of said guide means in vertically spaced relation, said guide tabs on one side of said guide means being vertically staggered relative to those on the other, the vertical spacings and staggering of said pairs of guide tabs being sufficient to provide for interleaving of the guide tabs of either pair with the guide tabs of the opposite pair on an identical drapery hook.

3. A drapery hook as defined in claim 2 wherein said upper hook means includes two transversely spaced hook portions.

4. A drapery hook as defined in claim 1 wherein said upper hook means includes two transversely spaced hook portions.

5. A drapery hook according to claim 1 wherein said guide 5 tabs are transversely aligned.

6. A drapery hook as set forth in claim 2 including a rearwardly extending retainer tab.

I i t m g UMTED STATES PATENT bi FIcE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent' Nb. 3,636,587 Dated January 25., 1972 Inv ntofl U {ARK H. HAGER- & CLARENCE R ADAMS It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Column 2', line 20, should be (specification had M" Colilmn 3, line 75 "EAch" should be --Each'--;

Column 7, line'7, (claim 6, line 1) change "2" to --1- as in amendment filed May 19, 1971.

Signed and sealed this 15th day of August 1972.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.F'L'JEI'ICHER,JRw ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. In a drapery hook, the combination of: a. a rearwardly and downwardly facing, upper hook means engageable with a drapery support; b. a forwardly and upwardly facing, lower hook means connected to said upper hook means and engageable with a drape; c. guide means connected to said hook means; d. said guide means having a substantially smooth rear surface and including transversely spaced guide tabs projecting transversely outwardly in opposite directions; and e. said guide tabs including transversely outwardly and forwardly projecting portions.
 2. A drapery hook as defined in claim 1 including a pair of said guide tabs on either side of said guide means in vertically spaced relation, said guide tabs on one side of said guide means being vertically staggered relative to those on the other, the vertical spacings and staggering of said pairs of guide tabs being sufficient to provide for interleaving of the guide tabs of either pair with the guide tabs of the opposite pair on an identical drapery hook.
 3. A drapery hook as defined in claim 2 wherein said upper hook means includes two transversely spaced hook portions.
 4. A drapery hook as defined in claim 1 wherein said upper hook means includes two transversely spaced hook portions.
 5. A drapery hook according to claim 1 wherein said guide tabs are transversely aligned.
 6. A drapery hook as set forth in claim 2 including a rearwardly extending retainer tab. 